New Book Takes a Hard-Hitting Look at Gentrification and its Impact on Urban America

LOS ANGELES - Sept. 21, 2019 - PRLog -- The term "gentrification" was coined by a British writer in 1964. It is based on the old English notion of the landed gentry, or upper crust monopolizing property. Political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson notes that in the more than half century since the coining of the term, the issue has sparked colossal fights over rents, housing affordability, tax giveaways to developers, the homeless crisis, and the role politicians play in aiding and abetting development projects that split communities. Hutchinson observes in his penetrating new work, The Gentrification Wars, that the issue has had a personal impact on many residents of rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods.

The battle over gentrification, he contends, has stirred fear, anxiety, and trauma within many moderate and low income, predominantly African American, Hispanic and poor urban neighborhoods. On the other hand, Hutchinson notes, "It is cheered by defenders as the savior of inner cities, as the source of jobs, improved neighborhood services and housing, neighborhood renewal, revitalization, and a testament to ethnic multiculturalism."

Still, opponents blast gentrification as Black removal, a destroyer of Black culture and cohesion, a tax rip off for the rich, and an affordable enclave designed for middle-class whites. They brand it a racist hijack of Black and Brown communities, that displace thousands.

In The Gentrification Wars, Hutchinson dissects these issues; walking the reader through the history of gentrification in urban areas to pointed steps that public officials, residents, and developers can take to find workable solutions to the conflict. Hutchinson contends that "The impact of gentrification on the politics and economics of cities, race relations, urban history, and its divisive and contentious consequences for urban communities has become one of the nation's most pressing public policy issues. "

The Gentrification Wars, then, presents a balanced examination of a controversial issue that has and will continue to have a major impact on the future shape of urban communities. And most importantly, how it will affect the lives of the people in those communities.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y2G8YT8